Ownership tag on power-up screen
US6832320B1 · kind B1 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Jul 28, 1998 |
| Grant date | Dec 14, 2004 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jul 28, 2018 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG06F21/88
- WIPO fieldComputer technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
An “ownership tag” in a special area of memory of a computer system identifies an owner of the computer system by displaying the ownership tag during initialization of the computer system. The ownership tag may be presented during the installation and execution of the Basic Input Output System (BIOS) preferably during Power on Self Test (POST) process. An administrator may access the ownership tag by interrupting the process by pressing the an appropriate key, which transitions the computer to an administrator set up mode. An administrator able to enter the administrator password may then alter the contents of the protected memory, changing the ownership tag. The ownership tag is preferably stored in a region of memory not accessible to a typical user, but accessible to an administrator aware of the administrator password. The ownership tag is stored in a flash memory, which is very difficult to remove from the system board, or to modify without administrator-level security access. This makes it superior to conventional storage mechanisms such as RTC RPM, hard disk, etc. since these are easily modifiable and/or easily removable.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.